One-liners, flirting fill ‘Castle’
Novelist teams with cop in ABC series
In ABC’s new, cheeky hour tonight called “Castle,” a roguish, life-is-good crime novelist gets teamed with a reluctant, life-is-hard cop. Does anyone not expect sparks?
The best news about this throwback, just-for-fun whodunit series (tonight at 10, KXLY-4 in Spokane) is that it stars Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle, the best-selling author, amateur sleuth and devoted wiseguy.
Fans know him from the short-lived “Firefly” and the Web hit “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.” But if none of that is familiar, just know he’s the guy to carry a mischievous hour.
Don’t expect a lot of startling originality, or any serious crime solving. This isn’t about that. It’s about banter and light adventure and boy-girl jousting. Think of it as a 1980s crime show with 2009 pacing and energy.
Castle gets paired with brisk New York detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) after he realizes a killer is copying crimes from his books. They stay teamed because he’s a natural crime solver (and has connections). She doesn’t like him, except she kinda does.
This is all wit and flirting and one-liners, plus some endearing acting from both Fillion and Katic. It handles the actual crimes only a little better than “Moonlighting” ever did, but in this case, that’s a good thing.